LAUSD reform agenda gets high marks from civic groups

A new coalition of civil rights groups, led by the United Way, released a poll today showing strong support for reforms taking place in Los Angeles Unified and calling for an even more aggressive approach to improving student achievement and increasing local control of neighborhood schools.

The survey by CLASS -- Communities for LA Student Success -- was conducted in the wake of a divisive school board race that pitted the so-called reform movement against organized labor. It included a series of questions centered on some of the more controversial issues facing the district, such as transforming underperforming schools, evaluating teacher performance and increasing the number of charters and other nontraditional campuses.

According to the poll, 98 percent believe it is important or critical to improve graduation rates for Latinos and African American students, and 95 percent supported greater autonomy for local schools. There also was strong support for expanding the use of technology in the classroom and for using a data-based system to evaluate the performance of teachers and principals.

"Our goal is to figure out what the community wants," Ryan Smith, the education policy director for the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, said during a press conference outside LAUSD headquarters. "By taking a poll of more than 100 community leaders, civil rights activists, we were able to see what their belief was for the priorities of the district.

"We've seen that many people are reaffirming many of the priorities the district has taken. And many of those priorities have been set by (Superintendent) John Deasy's agenda."

The CLASS report was released as United Teachers Los Angeles was counting votes in its own confidence poll on Deasy. Over the last week, its 30,000-plus members have been asked to weigh in on whether they think the district is headed in the right direction. The same poll asks whether the union should be more strident in its demands for higher pay, smaller classes and an end to many of the district's reforms.

The union is scheduled to release its poll late today.

Deasy released a statement saying he was "gratified and heartened" by the poll, saying it reflected the broad-based interest in public education as critical to the future of Los Angeles.

"While the responses to this survey indicate that we are moving in the right direction, they also send a clear message that this agenda must move quicker and with more courage," he said.

The results of both polls come about five weeks before a May 21 runoff for two candidates to represent the East San Fernando Valley on the LAUSD board -- an election that also includes the mayor's race.

Outgoing Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called this week on the mayoral candidates, Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel, to create substantive strategies for dealing with the problems facing the nation's second-largest school district.

In addition to the United Way, CLASS includes the Urban League, Families in Schools and two groups of reform-minded teachers -- Educators 4 Excellence and Teach Plus.